7.2. Build Settings

7.2.1. Details

Category	Description and Settings
Machine Settings	Process parameters that vary for each DED machine and deposition material.
	Material Deposition Rate: The feeding rate of the melted material, in mm³/sec. This value can be determined by multiplying layer thickness (mm) x weld width (mm) x deposition speed (mm/sec).
Build Conditions	The environment in the build chamber around the part as it is being printed, including the preheat temperature.
	Preheat Temperature: The starting temperature of the base plate.
	Scoping Method: Choose Geometry Selection or Named Selection to identify the bottom face of the base plate that is preheated.
	Preheat During Printing: Off/On - If set to Off (default), the preheat temperature is applied in only the first load step. On maintains the preheat temperature throughout the complete build process.
	Heating Method: The method used to heat up the material. Choose Power Based or Temperature Based (default). Power Based: Heating is based on laser power and material absorptivity. Power: The power of the laser in Watts. Absorptivity: The average fraction of energy that is absorbed by the deposited material and contributes to the heating process. Value must be between 0 and 1. Defaults to 0.4, or 40%. Temperature Based: Heating is based on the process temperature. Process Temperature: The temperature of the feed material as it is exiting the nozzle—usually melting temperature or above. When using the DED Process wizard, this value automatically defaults to the build material's melting temperature.
	Room Temperature: Temperature of the gas in the build chamber during the build.
	Gas Convection Coefficient Build: Convection coefficient from the part to the surrounding gas in the chamber during printing. Convection is applied to the element surfaces of every element cluster, which can be especially relevant in the case of a bulky structure.
	Gas Convection Coefficient Base Plate: Convection coefficient from the base plate to the surrounding gas in the chamber during printing.
	Radiation: Off/On - If set to Off (default), the radiation effect between the build/base and surrounding environment is not considered during printing. Setting the option to On enables the radiation effect between the build/base and surrounding environment during printing. Emissivity Build: The emissivity of the part during printing. Emissivity Base Plate: The emissivity of the base surface during printing.
	Thermal Calibration: Off/On - If set to Off, default heating and cooling behavior is used for cluster deposition. Setting the option to On allows you to change the Cluster Cooling Time Ratio, essentially using it as a calibration factor. Cluster Cooling Time Ratio: A value between 0 and 1 (default). The total deposition time, t, for each cluster is determined by the volume of the cluster and the deposition rate. By default, a very tiny fraction of this total time (1e-6 seconds) is used to raise the temperature to the Process Temperature, and the remainder is used for cooling. Use the Cluster Cooling Time Ratio to adjust the heating and cooling distribution. Lowering this value from the default of 1 has the effect of lowering cooling time, thereby increasing heating time. For example, a value of 0.8 means 20% of time, t, is used for heating and 80% for cooling (during printing). The lower the number, the higher the temperature spikes that will exist in the thermal history across the part.
Cooldown Conditions	The environment in the build chamber around the part in the cooldown step after the last layer is printed.
	Cooling Time: The duration of the cooldown process, in seconds.
	Number of Cooling Steps: The number of substeps within the cooldown calculation. Defaults to 10.
	Room Temperature: Temperature of the gas in the build chamber during cooldown.
	Gas Convection Coefficient Build: Convection coefficient from the part to the surrounding gas in the chamber during cooldown.
	Gas Convection Coefficient Base Plate: Convection coefficient from the base plate to the surrounding gas in the chamber during cooldown.
	Radiation: Off/On - If set to Off (default), the radiation effect between the build/base and surrounding environment is not considered during cooldown. Setting the option to On enables the radiation effect between the build/base and surrounding environment during cooldown. Emissivity Build: The emissivity of the part during cooldown. Emissivity Base Plate: The emissivity of the base surface during cooldown.
Cooldown Between Layers	Options to automatically adjust the dwell time between layers as measured after the last cluster in a layer is deposited.
	Cooldown Method: Choose Time Based or Temperature Based. Time Based: The dwell time between layers is read from the Cluster Settings table. Temperature Based: Uses a Target Temperature together with time step and convergence options to automatically adjust dwell time. As soon as one of the convergence options is achieved, deposition of the next layer is started. When this method is chosen, the Dwell Time column is set to Off in the Cluster Settings table before and during the transient thermal solution. Once the thermal solution is completed, the table is updated to reflect the calculated dwell times. Target Temperature: Temperature to cool down to before printing the next layer. Time Step Size: The time increment, in seconds, before each solve command during this iterative cooling process. Maximum Iterations per Layer: The maximum number of solve commands/iterations per layer. Defaults to 5. Convergence Threshold: Percent change in maximum temperature from this iteration to the previous iteration. If the change in maximum temperature in the layer is less than or equal to this value, the layer cooldown is considered converged. This is another way of controlling the number of iterations per layer. Defaults to 0.1, or 10%.

7.2.2. Tree Dependencies

Valid Parent Tree Object: AM Process for DED
Valid Child Tree Objects: None

7.2.3. Insertion Methods

Inserted automatically when the AM Process for DED object is added.

7.2.4. Right-click Options

Relevant right-click options include:

Save Build Settings: Saves the configuration of your build settings as an XML file. The property values are always saved in Consistent MKS Unit System.
Load Build Settings: Imports a build settings XML file. Once loaded, the settings populate the properties of the Details pane. Sample build settings XML files are available in: [Ansys Installation Directory]\aisol\DesignSpace\DSPages\SampleData\AdditiveManufacturing.
Reset to Default: Resets build settings to default values.

7.2.5. Additional Related Information

Define Build Settings